Growing Super: Chapter 2

Jack opened his eyes, not knowing where he was. The last thing he remembered was climbing the tree to get the frisbee and then… the fall. Jack scrambled to his feet, and patted himself down for injuries. The only thing that hurt was his head, where a lump was forming. Raising a hand to block the sun, he looked wearily up at the tree, and then dragged his gaze down to the ground. How could I have survived that fall? Did i-

“Jack, I’m home!” His mom’s voice cut the thought off. Jack grinned and rushed in to tell her the news.

Unsure of how to tell his mom what happened, he decided to leave out the part where he fell two stories. “I think that I might have flown.”

Suddenly, he was being crushed. He blinked, and found that it was his mom, smothering him in a hug. After he managed to peel her off, she stood back and clapped her hands together.

Jack stepped back in confusion. He just told her that he was a super, and she wasn’t surprised at all?

“I was so worried that you wouldn’t have any powers at all! They normally come in earlier, so I just about gave up hope on you.” Somehow she managed to talk to him without noticing the puzzled look on his face.

“I…” What she said raised some questions. She was worried that he wouldn’t have powers? Does that mean she is a super? Or maybe dad? “What do you mean, you were worried that I wouldn’t have any powers?” He asked harshly.

She cringed. “Your Dad and I probably should have told you that we were working supers.”

“Probably?”Jack snorted. “I lived my whole life thinking you were a normal teacher, and that dad worked at a bank!”

“I am a teacher, and your father technically does a lot of his work at banks,” She told him, frowning at his tone.

“Oh? So who are you then?” She wasn’t getting off the hook that easily.

“I’m Ice Storm,” She retorted and put a layer of ice over his mouth to prove it.

Jack tried to hide his surprise as he peeled the ice off his now blue lips. His mom was his favorite superhero?

“Who is dad?” He asked, toning down his anger.

“He’s Demon, a villain.”

“Oh.” He laughed when he realized what she meant when she said that he worked in banks a lot.

“How-” Jack meshed his fingers together. “How does that work, you and him?”

“Think of it as a game, and I’m on one side, and your dad is on the other.”

That was… less surprising than the fact that his dad robbed banks for a living. But still, why did there need to be villains? When Jack voiced his question, his mom explained it for him.

“It keeps real villains from going into their territory and doing some real damage. Your dad and most other villains all follow the rules that the Council set.”

“So they don’t really do any ‘dastardly deeds’?”

“Not really, but they still do rob banks and other things. But there are other villains that are evil,” She warned. “Some of them really do want to hurt people.”

“Do superheroes get paid?”

“If you get your license from one of the schools, you do. I teach math at Trigaleon, and we can get you in, if you want.” She suggested.

“If I’m going to be a superhero,” Jack said, pretending to not care. “Then I guess I have to go to school.”

Just then, the front door opened and Jack’s dad walked in, home from ‘work’. He put his work bag down and started to walk away, but Jack’s mom stopped him with three words.

“He flew today.”

He turned around – with an almost comical expression of surprise on his face – and picked Jack up in a suffocating hug.

“I guess you know all about us, then,” He said after Jack was set down.

Jack shrugged. “Mom told me about some of it, like how the supers work, who you are and that I’m going to school to become a superhero.”

“You could become a villain at the school, too, y’know. As long as you follow the rules set, you get to do what ever you want.” His dad looked a little put out that Jack wanted to be a hero, and not follow in his footsteps.

“I’m going to wait until all of my powers manifest before choose a path.” He lied, not wanting to hurt his dads feelings. Being a villain would be cool; robbing banks, taking hostages and fighting his nemesis would all be fun to do.

6 comments on “Growing Super: Chapter 2”

Cool update. I’d think Jake might be a little more surprised and confused then he comes across. I like the twist that his mom is his favorite here. Heh – though, given what most female hero’s wear, that might be *awkward!*

I feel like jack should seem a bit more surprised at his mothers nonchalance/hugging. I mean one minute he’s telling her that he can fly and the next she’s acting like she knew he would get powers but not when. And he doesn’t find that a little odd? Also when he is asking her how he can be a superhero I think the question should be worded differently. Not “So, how can I be a superhero?” In fact it shouldn’t even be a question really. It should be more of statement. “Mom, I want to be a superhero.” I mean he is a teenager, so a little bit of a rebellious attitude makes sense. Just my opinion though.

Just to let you know…this is one of my all time favorite Web Serial chapters. You executed this perfectly. I come back to this one time and time again, and I enjoy it just as much as I did the first time.